Cadre 5: The Seduction of Sawyer Jackson Grey

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Here is another chapter in the thrilling
adventures of Cadre 5.  This one takes place about a month
later.  There another issue separating this issue and the previous
one on this site.  If you are interested in those stories you can
find them at: href="http://sites.google.com/site/wyndgateacacemycadre5/stories">Wyndgate
Academy Stories.  

If you are not supposed to be reading
this stuff then don't. All characters belong to me.  I always
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HELL HATH NO FURY

GLITCH aka Aiesha Richmond

I watched as Rowan froze in her tracks at her door. A girl's voice
that I didn't recognize came from inside the room, "We need to talk,
Shadowclaw." Rowan's tail began to twitch angrily.

"Faerie, Glitch, would you two mind stepping into my room with me?"
she said without turning around. Entering the room she closed the door
part of the way. I wondered about her use of our code names instead of
our real ones, but said nothing. Shrugging at Kenna I stood up and we
both went to the door.

"What do you want, Talon?" Rowan asked. I could hear the caution in
her voice.

"We've got a problem, you've class="Apple-converted-space"> got a major problem." I
slipped through the door and saw the lanky girl slide down off the
window, her blood red wings brushing against the sill. She smiled at me
and Kenna and added, "In a minute, you may want to get Boomer too. This
concerns him."

"Hello Lisa," Kenna said. "What's going on?" Kenna asked, managing
to project a lot personality from her small frame.

"Hello Kenna," Talon said. "You've got a major league problem
brewing, and I'm not going sit back and watch a neo kid get killed
because someone has a grudge."

"The only person that's likely to get killed is you," I told her
leaning against Rowan's chest of drawers. "You got some nerve showing
up here, girl."

"I came to warn you," she gave a hard look. "I can always leave."

"Warn us about what?" Rowan asked.

"Fury," she said.

That got all of our attention. That
woman/creature/abomination/whatever was just plain bad news. She was an
environmentalist who's bomb went off in the wrong place, covering her
with what was left of the stuff left over from Neo Genesis Night. What
it did to her was transform her into a hideous monster with enough
power to take down a whole shit-load of army guys. "What's Fury got to
do with us?"

"Rumor is running through the Department of Neohuman Affairs that
she's on her way here to kill Boomer," she said.

"And you know this how?" Kenna asked.

"Because she listens to what people around her are talking about,"
Kenna said. There was an implication to her voice, but for the life of
me, I couldn't figure out what it was.

I watched as the blonde girl nodded to Kenna. For the first time I
saw something I didn't expect to see. There was hurt in her eyes, hurt
that she didn't want anyone else to know about. "You can explain that
later, Kenna. Right now, you should know that they think she's coming
here to kill Boomer because of his mother."

"I'll be right back," Rowan said and slipped out the door.

"Why hasn't the DNA warned Doctor Blair?" I asked.

"Do you think they give a shit about this school?" the girl asked.
"I work for those pukes, and you won't believe what they did to me."
She shook her head, "You guys are a major thorn in the Administration's
side. You keep getting thrown in the crapper and coming up smelling
like roses. They don't want any more private schools. They want all of
us to be good little neos and drink the kool-ade so we can join the
Civilian Security Force."

"That's a bunch of right-wing bullshit," I told her. I really was
getting sick of all the conspiracy theories floating around about the
President and his administration. After eight years of that hick from
Texas, it was good to have an educated man in the White House. "Those
schools aren't that bad!"

She raised an eyebrow and looked at me before she said, "Really? How
come you're here then? Have you ever been to one of them? I grew up in
the damn things. I know what they're like."

"It can't be that bad," I started to say.

"Shut up, Glitch. You don't know what you're talking about. She
does, and so do I," Kenna looked at her sadly. "They really did it,
didn't they," My small friend said softly.

"Wanna' see the scar?" the girl nodded and asked nearly in tears.
She pulled up the front of her shirt and rolled down the waistband of
her jeans to reveal an ugly reddish purple scar running from just below
her navel to disappear into her jeans. "No babies for me- ever," she
added bitterly.

"Who?" I asked. "What?"

"Administration's new policy. Neos who are wards of the state like
Talon is, are forcibly sterilized to keep them from spreading the
neo-gene."

"That's absurd!" I said. "The president would never...,"

Kenna spun on me, her eyes flashing. "What part of this don't you
get, Aiesha?! That man in the White House thinks he smarter than
everyone in the country. He thinks that because he sits in the Oval
Office he can do anything he wants. He doesn't care about the law, he
doesn't care about the Constitution, and he's not planning on there
being another administration after him. The media that put him there
doesn't give a damn anyway. It's time to take off the rose-colored
glasses, Aiesha. He doesn't care about you either. He's not God, he's
not the fucking messiah, but he thinks he is."

I stepped back stunned. I never felt that kind of anger and
vehemence come from her before. Yes, we disagreed on politics, but for
the most part we could be civil to each other. "I'm just saying that we
can't blame everything on the President, he inherited a mess."

"It doesn't matter," Kenna said. "It doesn't matter if it was the
former President or this, one. What matters is that the government took
away one of her basic rights because it could," Kenna said nearly in
tears.

"What's going on?" Brian asked as he and Sawyer entered the room.
Seeing Talon, he stepped back for just a moment and blushed deeply.
"What do you want Talon?"

"Hello, Boomer," the girl actually managed to smile as she pulled
her shirt down. "Actually, I came here to do you a favor."

"Last favor you did me had me kissing a mountain," Brian said
carefully.

"Sorry about that, but our boss wanted his data and the only way to
get it was to push you guys." She stopped and admired Sawyer for a
second. "Hello, Ghost."

"Talon," Saywer said.

"You know, Slugger wants to rip your head off and use it as a
toilet. He's also mentioned several other things he wants to do when he
gets his hands on you. So far dismemberment has been the least of them"

"Ah'm always glad to make new friends," Sawyer said sarcastically.

She turned back to Brian and said, "Brian Alexander, only son of
Lady Lightning, you've got a problem."

"You keep saying that. What's this about Fury?" he asked.

Somebody managed to get it through that layer of bone she calls a
brain that Lady Lightning has a son, and you're him. She wants to kill
you," Talon said. "Rumor at the DNA has it that she's on her way here
to rip you in half and then eat what's left."

"Why is she after me?" Boomer asked.

"Because she can't get to your mother," Talon said. There was a lot
of bad blood between Lady Lightning and Fury. Nobody was sure exactly
how it started or what it was really about. I don't think that even
Brian knew what it was about, but the battles between them were
legendary.

"So what's the government going to do about?" Brian asked.

"Absolutely nothing. President Chrarisma is weighing his options
before deciding what to do. I guess by the time they're burying what's
left of you, he'll decide. Of course by then it'll be too late," Talon
said. Then leaning back against the wall, she said, "Look, you guys
have no reason to trust me. That's cool, I don't have any reason to
trust you either. But Kenna was at least nice to me at Danville. I
figured I would return the favor. Fury should be here by tomorrow
afternoon. If I were you, I'd evacuate this place and then run like
hell."

"If I run, she'll just follow," Brian said. "She may find, Dad."

"That's your problem," Talon said. "I've done my good deed. She
began to climb through the window."

"Wait!" Kenna said.

Talon stopped and turned back to her, "What?"

"Thanks," Kenna said.

Talon just nodded but said nothing as she climbed back out the
window, "Are we going to let her walk out of here?" I asked.

"No," Brian said. "We're going to let her fly out of here." Then she
was gone, only the retreating sounds of her blood red wings beating the
air were left to ever remind us that she'd been there.

We spent the next hour and a half in Dr. Blair's office explaining
what had just happened. He made some calls, and confirmed that the
rumor existed. Then he sent us to our quarters and told us to pack and
be ready to leave by the morning. Since it was impossible to get a
flight for a neo-human in under a month these days, it was decided that
all the children would accompany Mr. Waterford to the Croften-Blake
mansion and be disseminated to their parents. Boomer was going to wait
at the school for his Mother and the two of them would fly home.
However, that was the adults' plan. We on the other hand had our own
ideas.

FAERIE aka Kenna Draupnir

I lay in my bed trying to sleep. My mind wouldn't stop racing from
one possible outcome for tomorrow to another. I was worried. I was
worried about what would happen to the school, about what would happen
to Brian, what would happened to Rowan and Sawyer, and what would
happen to me. Helheim's bells, I was even worried about what might
happen to Aiesha. Brian had made it clear that he wasn't going to run-
if he did, he was afraid that the Fury would decide his Dad was an
easier target. We'd already decided that we'd stay with him. We were a
team, and he needed our help.

As I tossed and turned in my bed, sometime around midnight, I
started getting something over my link with my twin, Kenneth. class="Apple-converted-space"> :Damn it, Bro! Can't you
shield me from your trysting?: I
sent to him. It was so strong it was starting to drown out my own
senses.

But he wasn't listening. He had his mind too focused on what he was
doing and with whom to worry about whether or not it bled through to
me. He'd been chasing this particular boy for quite a while, and now
that the boy had him right where Kenneth wanted him, he wasn't
concerned about what I might be picking up. The worst part was the
bleed-through was starting to have a physical effect on me too.

Oh well, might as well go with the flow, I thought and then
giggled at the pun. I finally threw my covers back and slipped outside
my door. I padded across the common area and cast my mind out and into
Sawyer's room. He was still awake too, so I entered quietly and slipped
between the covers with him. He gave me a concerned look and asked,
"What's wrong?"

"Kenneth is playing with his new boy-toy, and won't shield. I
thought I'd come and see if you wanted to go with me to jump Rowan's
bones?" I whispered to him. He nodded and pulled back the covers to
reveal his own rampant erection sitting atop his bald pubes. I reached
over and gave it a few strokes and watched as the head got slicker.
That just set the fire in my pussy to burning that much hotter. I
almost rolled over on top of him and buried him in me without his
permission.

He leaned over and kissed me, and said, "Let's go." He got out of
bed and pulled on some running shorts.

A few seconds later we were both slipping into Rowan's room where
much to our chagrin, she was waiting naked. I took the time to look her
up and down again. She was absolutely, beautiful or handsome or what
ever word you wanted to use. The black tips of her champagne colored
hair was hanging to her shoulders framing her grinning face. Her tail
was whipping behind her excitedly she closed the closet door behind
her. I noticed that her dick was already half hard as she lay out
several thick gymnastic mats on the floor between her bed and the wall.
"I heard your comment," she said. "And I could smell both of you. I
like the idea."

I laughed and pulled my nightshirt over my head, and dropped my now
soaked panties. "If Kenneth can have some fun, then so can I. Besides,
I think that we've all pretty much decided to stay and help Boomer
tomorrow. I think that I'd like to spend the night before the battle in
the arms of my lovers."

"Waxing poetic on us?" Sawyer asked as he pushed his shorts off and
then pulled the tee-shirt he was wearing over his head. Turning he
locked the door, and I took a few moments to admire the fine specimen
of a bubble-butt he was showing us. "Oh yeah," I said pulling myself
into Rowan's arms.

"Looks like someone has started without us," Rowans smiled as I
wrapped my arms around her neck just before I kissed her seriously. Our
tongues began to dance as she lay me back on the mats and our breasts
were smashed together. I loved the feeling of our nipples grinding
against each other. I lifted my legs and felt her enter me in one
stroke. The images I kept getting over my link with Kenneth had me
hotter than a fire cracker as it was, so I was ready. It felt good to
have her long thin length slide deep inside me.

She kissed me and we moved against each other for several moments. I
felt her stop and her movements became smaller, almost motionless. I
realized that I had probably "cut line" so to speak by throwing myself
at her. I looked around and couldn't find Sawyer. Then I realized that
Rowan was adjusting to having him enter class="Apple-converted-space"> her class="Apple-converted-space"> from behind. After a
few moments, we began to move again.

Rowan would thrust into me, and pull back from where Sawyer's dick
was buried in her own pussy. Then she would pull her dick out of me,
and thrust back against Sawyer, impaling herself on him. Slowly, the
images from Kenneth subsided from my mind, replaced with my own
thoughts, and lust. I could feel my own lovers' minds and realized that
they were amused by the intensity of my reaction.

:It's okay to cut line, when you need it, Kenna: class="Apple-converted-space"> I finally heard
Sawyer's mind voice inside my head. I could feel where he was enjoying
the feeling of Rowan's body moving under his. class="Apple-converted-space"> :Besides, I could see
the need in your eyes when you crawled in bed with me. I can wait my
turn.:

:I don't mind, either,: Rowan
was sending.

:Didn't know we could cut this kind of communication across three
ways,: I told her
as we continued to make love.

:Not sure we can unless we're locked together this way,: class="Apple-converted-space"> Sawyer said. class="Apple-converted-space"> :I mean, I can't feel
your mind unless we're intimate.:

Slowly our passions built. I was relishing the feeling of Rowan
inside me, and of her body spread out over me. I could tell Sawyer was
feeling the same way. I knew he'd much rather be in the middle, but I
hadn't stopped to think with anything other than the fire between my
legs when I straddled Rowan. As I reached a point where I didn't really
care which one of them was fucking me as long as I had a hard dick
inside my pussy, I threw my legs up and wrapped them firmly around
Rowan's hips.

"Hey!" Sawyer protested, as I felt my foot hit him in the side of
the head.

"Sorry," I told him as I began to buck my hips up to meet Rowan's
thrusts.

Suddenly I was rushing over the edge and began to tremble all over.
The pressure that was building at the back of my pussy suddenly erupted
up and out, and sent shivers all through my body. When I stopped
shaking, I looked up at Rowan and she was smiling down at me. "Enjoy
that huh?"

"Oh yeah. I'm going to get Kenneth for setting this off though," I
told her.

"Mind if we trade positions?" she asked.

"Not at all," I said. "I should have asked first."

"You never have to ask to have a need met, Kenna," she said as she
pulled her dick out of me, and backed off.

"Mind if I play through?" Sawyer asked as he traded places with her.
He leaned down and slowly slipped his circumcised cock into me. It felt
wider, and a little different than Rowan, but it still felt good. He
leaned down and kissed me on the lips, holding his body absolutely
still.

I'd have expected him to be close to the edge, but for some reason
he wasn't. I let my mind drift into his and realized that I'd
interrupted his second masturbatory session of the evening. This was
going to be a long and slow fuck, and I was looking forward to it. I
watched as a look of bliss came over his face and realized that Rowan
had buried herself up to the black tips of her pubes inside him.

Again we began with a long slow and steady stroke. We must have
moved against each other for nearly an hour before both of my lovers'
movements became more urgent. With a bit of surprise, I realized that I
was once again approaching an orgasm. I reached up and grabbed a
handful of Sawyer's cute butt and started pulling him harder against me
as I locked my legs around his hips. I could feel Rowan's hard abs
pounding against my fingers as I spread Sawyer's ass wider and she
shifted her strokes to strong steady arc. Suddenly

Sawyer was pounding me like a jackhammer and I felt myself begin to
clench around the length of flesh in my body as a second orgasm hit me.
As I clamped my legs around him trying to pull as much of him as I
could inside me, I felt him begin to tremble, and above him, I could
hear Rowan purr.

After a while, I heard a slight "plopping" sound as Rowan withdrew
from him, and then he withdrew from her. I could feel the warm heat of
both of their semen running down the inside of my thigh and into the
crack of my butt. One load from Sawyer was enough, but I knew that
Rowan produced copious amounts of both semen and lubricant. She said it
was because her body was powering two sets of genitals. They rolled to
either side of me, and we lay there cuddled in the glow of the
Thundercats nightlight plugged into the wall next to Rowan's desk.

We must have lain there for another hour, just cuddling and playing
with each other gently. It felt good to run my hand along Sawyer's
smooth skin. To feel Rowan pressed up against me on one side and he on
the other as we all simply reveled in the feeling of belonging. Around
three, things became serious again. This time, I got in the middle, and
Rowan fucked my pussy while Sawyer took my ass. We'd done that once in
during Fall Break and I had enjoyed it that time, but this time was
different. I was getting feedback from Kenneth as his soccer jock was
pounding away at him, Sawyer and Rowan were pounding away at me. Friday
nights would never be the same for either of us again.

We fell asleep on the mat sometime around four. Rowan was facing the
door, Sawyer was spooned up against her, one arm draped over her waist,
his hand laying gently on her prize. I was spooned up behind him, with
my hand wedged between his hairless chest and her back. It was a very
pleasant way to fall asleep. I also knew that it was the calm before
the storm.

BOOMER aka Brian Alexander

The news about Fury coming to kill me had me scared out of my mind.
I knew that the others were going to stand with me, I tried to talk
them out of it, but they insisted. I think that was what scared me the
most. Mom was going to come supposedly take me and Dad some place safe.
What I couldn't believe though was that the government liaison to
Neo-Force One was actually making her pull her regular duty shift
before coming to get me. That was just messed up.

I think we all knew deep down though, that it wasn't going to go
down the way we'd planned for it to. I think we all knew that tomorrow
was going to be a fight, and it was going to be the fight of our lives.

We had turned in around eleven o'clock with plans to get up early. I
usually don't have much of a problem sleeping. This was an entirely
different situation though. I'd never had someone out to kill me before
and that left me a bit unnerved. I tossed an turned for a while. I
found something to occupy my time for a while, but she eventually had
to leave. Finally, around six, I pulled my butt out of bed sandy eyed
and got my shower. By the time I stumbled out into the common room, I
found Aisha standing and looking toward Rowan's door looking like she
was fit to be tied.

"What's up 'Sha?" I asked.

She turned and looked at me and said, "At least you're still in class="Apple-converted-space"> your class="Apple-converted-space"> bed," she said.

I gave her a confused look and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Guess who slept in Rowan's room last night?" she asked.

"Well if it were any of my business, I might say Sawyer," I told her.

"How about Sawyer and Kenna," she said accusingly.

I shook my head at that thought. "I didn't think Sawyer liked girls."

"He likes girls well enough to be dancing the naked nasty with
Rowan," she said.

"Rowan's also got a dick," I told her, not feeling like being
polite. "Besides, how do you know they had sex? They may have just
slept. The three of them have gotten pretty close lately."

"They had sex," she said.

"How do you know?" I demanded.

"Because I checked," she said.

"You spied on them?" I asked.

"I checked," she said. "Rowan didn't lock her bathroom door."

"You spied on them," I insisted. "Aiesha, that wasn't right."

"Well it's not right for them to get all preachy and moral on me
about the president and then go and have an orgy."

"Preachy and moral?" I asked feeling a little confused.

"All that crap about the President, and not class="Apple-converted-space"> drinking the kool-ade," class="Apple-converted-space"> she made little
quotation marks in the air. "The same kind of shit the right is
always preaching about religion and country," she said.

"Aiesha, when have you known either of those two to say anything
about religion? As a matter of fact Kenna refuses to talk about
religion with you. They'll bust your chops on the rights of the
individual, but they don't preach to you about morality. You aren't
being fair here."

"Still it ain't right," she said.

"What's not right?"

"What's all the fuss out here about?" Rowan suddenly stuck her head
out the door. I noticed that she was wearing Sawyer's tee-shirt.

"Aisha's upset," I told her.

"Because Sawyer and Kenna slept in here last night?" she said.

"How'd you know?" Aiesha asked.

She wiggled one of her cats ears at her. "I can hear rather well,"
she told us.

"Busted," I said.

"I'm not the one standing there in Sawyer's tee-shirt," Aiesha said.

Rowan looked at her confused and then asked very lowly, "What are
you really upset about Aiesha?"

"I'm upset because I got preached to last night by a couple of
hypocrites. You'll talk all high and mighty about doing the right
thing, and then you go and pile up in an orgy," Aiesha said.

"Aiesha, I'm dating both Sawyer and Kenna. They both know about it
and each other. They're dating each other and me to. Do we have to tell
you everything we do?"

"I thought we were friends," Aiesha said.

"As far as I know we are. Has something happened to change that?"
Rowan asked.

"I don't know. You tell me," Aiesha said and walked off.

I looked over to where Rowan was standing wearing Sawyer's tee-shirt
and blushing. "Do you know what that was all about?" she asked.

I shrugged and said, "She's scared. She feels alone."

"She feels alone?" Rowan asked.

"This wasn't planned Brian, and it wasn't exactly the kind of thing
I'd send out an invitation for if it was. She's a nice girl and all,
but this isn't something that has an open invitation to anybody," she
said. She leaned in and said with a wicked evil grin, "Okay, maybe from
Sawyer, but he just thinks you look hot in your uniform."

I felt myself blush at that thought. It was a not so gentle reminder
that there tended to be more going on between the three of them than
evidently just sex. I shrugged and said, "No thanks. I've sort of had
my eye one of the girls in the class ahead of us," I told her. I didn't
tell her that I'd had Lauren up to my room a couple of times already.

"I know she said. I could smell," she said with a grin.

Busted, I
thought. "Why do you have to complicate my life so?," I asked her.

She shrugged, "I'd be happy staying at home with my tutors," she
said. "Don't blame me."

And that was the crux of the whole problem from start to finish. The
government had forced us all together. The government had revealed our
identities and the government had revealed Mom's identity. They'd set
this whole situation up. Even Talon's involvement had a government
connection. Hell, even I was starting to believe what Kenna and Sawyer
were saying. I stopped and looked at Rowan. "Let me ask you something.
Do you really believe half of what Kenna and Sawyer are always saying?"

She smiled and said, "Why don't you come in and we'll talk." She
backed away from the door, revealing that she was wearing a skirt as
well as Sawyer's tee-shirt, out from which her tail was curling an
uncurling. Leaving the door open she went and opened the window- which
was probably a good thing because the room reeked of sex. Kenna was
sitting at Rowan's dresser brushing her long blonde hair and wearing
her usual over-sized night shirt. Sawyer was rolling up several
blankets and laying them on the bed. He was bare chested but was
wearing a pair of running shorts.

"You guys are rather calm about this," I commented.

"It was bound to come out sooner or later anyway," Sawyer said with
a smile. "I'm not about to do what we've got to do today without
spending some time with Rowan and Kenna before hand."

I nodded, "I don't blame you. You weren't the only one with company
last night either," I told him. I'd at least gotten Lauren back to her
own suite by one o'clock, though. I smiled and said, "I won't ask any
details."

"Good," Kenna said.

"You asked if I believe what Kenna and Sawyer are saying about the
government," Rowan said.

"Yeah."

"I'm not sure. I do know that at least the three of us are here due
to coercion. I mean, why shouldn't I be allowed to hire my own tutors,
and learn at home? Why can't Sawyer's and Kenna's families' pay the
neo-insurance and attend regular school? There' s a lot to what they're
saying. Is it some kind of vast conspiracy to take over the country and
turn us all into socialists? I don't know. I do know that I don't like
what I see my government doing to me and my friends because we happen
to be neos."

"Is that why you three decided to come back and wait with me today?"
I asked.

"That's why we've decided we're not leaving in the first place.
Heather can handle getting people settled at our house. We're needed
here," she told me.

"I appreciate it guys," I said suddenly feeling like I was part of
something bigger than myself.

"It's what's right," Sawyer told me. "I called my folks and told
them that I was staying until you got away safely. They weren't happy
about it, but they understood. Kenna's family feels the same way.
Aiesha will still have to go with the others though. Her mother doesn't
want her here. She wants her to teleport home."

"What's she going to do?" I asked.

"I'm going to teleport home," Aiesha suddenly said from the door. I
turned to look at her and she smiled, "And then I'm going to teleport
right back." She turned and looked at the others and said, "I'm sorry
for going off. You are my friends, and I was being a bitch. I'm sorry."

"We're all under a lot of stress," Kenna said coming over to give
her a hug.

Aiesha backed up and said with a smile, "Uhh uhh uhh, not until
you've had a shower girl. I am not going to say what you smell like."

GHOST aka Sawyer Jackson Grey

After we got things straightened out as much as we could, we
followed Aiesha's advice, got our showers and all headed down to
breakfast. There we got herded into groups for a quick breakfast before
we were all supposed to board the vans. After a hearty meal of bacon
and eggs, we went looking for Mr. Erikson.

"Was wondering when you five were going to show up," he said without
looking up from his clipboard.

"We've decided we're not leaving," I told him.

"Thought that might be the case. He put his clipboard down and
looked at us all. "This isn't a game, kids. This isn't a training
exercise. This is real life battle. Fury is a Class 25 plus neo-human.
The only person known who can go toe to toe with her is Lady Lightning
and that usually causes property damage in the millions of dollars. I
know you want to stand by your teammate, but...,"

"No buts, sir. We're staying," I told him and looked back at my
teammates. "Nobody is going to hurt Boomer while we're around. We're
not staying to fight Fury, although we'll do that if we have to. We're
staying to make sure that the only person he leaves with is his mother.
As soon as we're sure they're safe, we'll get the hell out of here too."

"How?" he asked.

"Fly, run, and teleport," I told him.

"Aiesha has to go home," he said.

"Maybe, but she'll be back," I reminded him.

"You considered what you might do if you're forced into a fight?" he
asked.

"Remember Slugger's leg?" I asked.

"Fury heals a lot faster than Slugger," he told us.

"Then I'll have to do it more times," I told him.

"What about you," he looked at Rowan. "This isn't about following
your boyfriend into a fight is it?"

He gave him a strange look, and said, "No sir. It's about making
sure my friend, Alex makes it out of here alive."

"You following a piece a tail?" he asked Kenna.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you think?"

He laughed, "Marine Corps got nothing on you five. You fight like
hellions and you'll fuck anything that catches your eye, including each
other. I'd be proud to have you here."

He turned to Aiesha and asked, "You going to report to your Mom?"

"Yes sir, and then...,"

He touched her lips with his fingers and said, "I don't want to hear
it. If I hear it, I have to tell her. You just make sure that enough
people see you that there is no question that you followed her
instructions."

She nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

"When will the Army get here, sir?" I asked.

He shook his head and said, "They're not coming. When word of this
leaked out the administration decided to send in its Civilian Defense
Force instead."

"Okay, when does the cannon fodder get here?" Kenna asked.

I noticed that Aiesha shot her sharp look and said, "They're not
cannon fodder."

"They're not professionals either. Fury killed over five hundred
trained soldiers when she erupted. They had tanks, helicopters and
missiles. These guys are thugs with automatic weapons," Kenna said.

"She's right," Mr. Erikson said. "They are going to be more of a
hindrance than they will be help. I hope the President is ready to lose
a lot of CDF when this is over, because they're going to be resigning
in droves." Then picking up his clipboard he said, "Okay, help me get
these kids loaded onto the buses."

We spent the next hour getting the kids piled into vans, buses, and
cars and sent off to Rowan's place. We got them out just in time too,
since the first of the CDF troop carriers almost forced the last bus
off the road when it came barreling down the drive way. As the last of
the student buses disappeared down the driveway, I felt Rowan's hand on
my shoulder. "So, what's the plan of attack, General Jackson?"

I looked around to make sure that Aiesha wasn't around to hear that
remark. Fortunately, she had already left to visit with her mother and
be seen all over Chicago so that when she came back there would be no
question that the school had done everything it could to see to her
safety. "The plan is not to attack," I told him. I did notice that I
was starting to think of Rowan more and more as a him. Considering what
we did last night, it's kind of hard not to. "The plan is to get Boomer
away from here safely and hope that Fury doesn't rip the school apart
in the process."

He nodded to me and said, "Sounds like a good one. What if we have
to go into the fight though? What's your Plan B?"

"If we have to into the fight, I want you to distract her- stay out
of her reach but you and Boomer keep her busy- Aiesha, Kenna, and I are
going to try to hit her with some things we've worked out. Her healing
factor is so strong that she heals bullet wounds in less time than it
takes for them to penetrate- when class="Apple-converted-space"> they penetrate. Your claws
won't do anything but make her mad. But maybe between the three of us,
we can cause her enough pain to drive her away."

"Where you going to try and drive her to?" he asked me.

"Away from the nearby towns. The problem is that this area has so
many little towns that it's going to be hard to find a route that won't
put her in somebody's back yard," I told him.

"You don't want to take her out permanently?" he asked me.

"I don't think we can. But if we have to do it to save lives, then
do it even though I don't think it'll be a good idea. She could be
bearing down on us with straight razor in one hand and grenade in the
other and if we killed her, the press will make it look like we picked
a fight and killed her in cold-blood," I told her. I was starting to
get an idea of what the world we lived in was really like, and how it
really worked. I didn't like it very much, and wished I could just go
back to being a kid where my biggest worry was whether or not I was
going to get caught peeking at other boys in the shower after gym.

"What time is Lady Lightning supposed to be here?" he asked me.

"According to Brian, about ten," I told him. "That's when her
arrival time is cleared by the FAA. They're both supposed to take off
ten minutes later."

"The government is letting them fly out of here?" he asked.

"Yeah, but they sure as hell went out of their way to make sure the
information got leaked to the general public. Of course if Fury gets
here before then, all bets are off. As a member of NF-1, Brian's mom
has clearance to fly as high and as fast as she wants when lives are at
stake."

"When did we become such a police state?" Rowan asked me.

"January two thousand nine when this administration came to power,"
I told him.

Wanting to change the subject I smiled and said, "You know, you
handled that mess rather well this morning."

He shrugged and said, "I was just being honest. I'd have rather had
our relationship come out in a less dramatic way, but that didn't
happen, so I made the best of a bad situation. "I knew there was going
to be trouble when I heard Aiesha teleport into Lance's room."

"I agree. What's done is done," I told her. "We could moan and bitch
about it, but that wouldn't accomplish very much. I still don't think I
want my parents to know about it just yet," I told him.

"I understand," he said putting an arm around my shoulder.

SHADOWCLAW aka Rowan Croften-Blake

Sawyer and I talked for a little while longer. That is until I heard
something that made my blood boil. Like I've said before, I can hear
the heartbeat of a mouse in the next room. As I stood there in my
school combat uniform, my arm around his shoulders, I heard one of the
CDF commanders talking on the phone:

"I don't understand then sir, why are we here?"

"Because we want a show of force," class="Apple-converted-space"> the voice over the
phone came.

"But you don't want us to try and stop Fury?" class="Apple-converted-space"> the commander on the scene
asked.

"Hell no. If she destroys that place then that's one less school
we have to try and force into the federal program. Just sit back and
watch. If it gets too bad, pull your men out," class="Apple-converted-space"> the voice over the phone
said.

I looked down at Sawyer and said, "We got a problem."

"What now?" he rolled his eyes.

"The CDF has orders to let Fury destroy the school," I told him
feeling my tail begin lash from side to side. Like I said, sometimes it
has a mind of its own.

He shrugged and said, "Kenna and I were expecting as much. Let me
guess, they're here for show?"

I nodded and asked, "You been eavesdropping?"

He shook his head and said, "No, I was hoping I was just getting
cynical, but to be honest, what I've seen happening in the world lately
suggested that something like this would happen." Sighing, he added,
"Looks like we're on our own. Why don't you warn Brian and Kenna, and
I'll give Mr. Erikson a call."

Nodding, I headed off to find Kenna. This was not good news. Like
Sawyer, I didn't expect them to do much, but if they were just going to
sit by and not actually engage in the fight, I'd rather them not be
here at all. Give me a few squads of SEALS or Army Rangers, or Marine
Force Recon. Hell, I'd take a troop of Boy Scouts over the CDF.

I finally found Kenna sitting on the edge of the fountain that
formed the circular part of the drive way in front of the school. She
and Boomer were taking quietly. She looked up at me and said, "I heard.
The order has been spread around all the squads. Sit it out and watch."

Boomer looked up at me with those bright blue eyes and said, "I
guess we're on our own."

I smiled at him and said, "That's not quite true. Doctor Blair
supports us, Mr. Erikson and Mr. Waterford have taught us. So we have
to deal with this mess. We do what we've been taught to do, and we get
you to safety. The school can be rebuilt. If it can't afford it, I'll
pay for it. The point is that we are not going to let anything happen
to our leader."

"Some leader I'm turning out to be," he said. "Sawyer and Kenna are
better tacticions than I am," he said.

"Leadership isn't about tactics. It's about knowing when to put the
right people in charge and let them do their job. It's knowing how to
inspire people to give their best, and it's about taking responsibility
when things go wrong and spreading the credit when things go right.
You've got that in spades, Brian. I'd follow you into a fight with a
hurricane," I told him.

Brian smiled up at me and said, "Thanks. I guess this isn't really
going to be a fight is it? It's a strategic withdrawal."

I smiled and said, "Something like that. We'll regroup afterwards.
Kenna knows how to get in touch with you when things calm down."

"I still feel like I'm running away from a fight."

"You are. But it's a fight that doesn't mean anything and it's a
fight you..., we can't win. It's that fight against a hurricane I was
talking about."

Suddenly an arc of lightning flashed between Kenna's antennae. She
stood up and began to flap her wings as she floated on the breeze. I
could tell that she was talking to someone with her telepathy.

"What's up?" I asked.

"She's on her way, and she's not alone," Kenna said.

"Huh?"

She looked down and smiled saying, "Lady Lightning, Goth, Talon, and
Badger are slugging it out with her about five miles from here. They're
throwing everything they've got at her, but she's still coming."

"Mom's on her way?" Brian asked.

Kenna nodded. Suddenly in the distance we heard the booming sound of
thunder and a flash of lightning.

Robert Killpatrick

Personal Observations

Talon presented me with an unexpected opportunity today. I heard the
sounds of a major argument in the conference room so I went in to
investigate. What I found was Talon arguing with Giggle, and Slash.

"I'm going, and there's not a hell of a lot you can do about it. You
can stay here and hide behind RK's skirts if you want to. But I'm not
about to let Kenna face Fury alone."

"I agree," Goth was saying. It was unlike him to actually speak up
in a conflict. I was intrigued.

"We've been told to stay out of it," Slash said playing with her
dagger menacingly.

"Then you can stay out of it. Last I remember, you weren't all that
effective in our last fight anyway."

"I took out that one kid," she countered as the blade flashed across
the room, and suddenly hovered over the table.

Goth's third eye was open and glowing. "Arguing is one thing,
fighting is another," he said quietly.

"What's this all about?" I asked.

"Talon here wants to disobey orders and go and try and help those
brats at Wyndgate," Slugger said.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Talon. "Is this true, Lisa?" I
asked.

She swallowed, then nodded and said, "I'm going to help them.
There's no need to let Fury kill Boomer. If data on this group is so
all fired important to you, then you should understand why?"

I turned to Goth and Badger and asked, "You willing to go with her?"

The two boys looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah," Badger said.

I turned back to the trio. "Are you willing to accept the
consequences?" I asked them.

All three looked at each other and said, "If we survive, we'll deal
with them when we get back."

I nodded and said, "I can't stop you. You're class eight neos or
above. You can walk right through me. But there class="Apple-converted-space"> will class="Apple-converted-space"> be class="Apple-converted-space"> consequences, and not
necessarily what you expect."

"Fine, we'll take them," Talon said as the three marched out of the
conference room.

When I was sure they were well out of hearing range, I turned to
Giggle, Slash and Slugger. I nodded to where Slugger still had a cane
where his leg was still healing. Technically he had an excuse, but he
could have at least spoken up. Finally I sighed and said, "Looks like
you just got a new team leader."